PRETTY BRIGHT (9 page)

“Well, I'm telling on you too, then!” Cordell said, parting ways with his friends and making his way across the street to his sister.
“Tell, I don't give a damn, I'm damn near grown anyways!” Fussing the whole way back home, Bright told Cordell if he said one more word that she was gonna beat the black off of him. Knowing that he couldn't handle Bright, he shut up and ran inside the apartment steaming.
If Bright thinks she's the only one that can break all the rules around here, then she has another thing coming,
Cordell thought to himself. Inside Bright snatched, Cordell up by his collar. “If you disobey me again and I catch you outside, I'm fucking yo ass up on sight! Do I make myself clear?”
“Yeah, Bright, dang! I said okay already,” he said, trying to remove himself from his sister's grip. When Bright released him from her hold she pushed him to the floor.
“And that goes for all of y'all too!” she said, directing her attention to Ryonna and Ramon who were peeking from behind the couch. After they both agreed, Bright ran some bath water, and she called Treasure and told her that she was in desperate need of a good bath and to walk Suge over to her house.
Treasure laughed. “Aight funky cock, we'll be there in a few.”
“Thanks deep throat.” Then Bright climbed into a nice hot bubble bath. “Damn bad ass kids,” she said as she lit her blunt, inhaled, and then relaxed her head on the bathtub cushion.

Suge had been over at Bright's for over three days without her mother finding her, and since Suge loved hanging out with Bright’s siblings, it allowed Bright the time she needed to step out at night without worrying about them getting into any trouble.

“How you feeling, Young?” Bright asked after ste pping out of the shower and into her room where Suge was resting in her bed.

“I'm alright, just thinking about being in a foster home, with strange people and shit. I'd rather stay here with you and your family. Your mother likes me...maybe she'll let me stay a little longer,” Suge said, sitting up in bed.

Happy that Suge was comfortable, Bright smiled. “I know she wouldn't mind if you stayed the rest of the summer, but once school starts she'll want to meet your mother and everything, and you know that won't work. And if she found out she was harboring a runaway, she'd go crazy and be on my head...tough!” Bright said, throwing on a pair of cotton boxer shorts and a white tank top.

“Yeah, you’re right, Bright, and I guess a foster home can’t be any worse than where I've been all these years either, right?”

“Right,” Bright said, moisturizing her skin. “Well, Larry's coming through with movies and a bottle, I'm about to roll a blunt up to smoke, so if you wanna get faded, we'll be in the living room waiting for you,” she said hoping to put a smile on Suge's face.

Suge smiled. “Okay, I will.” Then she headed to the bathroom to shower.
Earlier that day, Suge had accidentally dropped Bright’s cell phone behind her bed when she noticed the letter addressed to Treasure from her ex-boyfriend, Chrome. Suge was puzzled as to why Bright had the letter under her bed in the first place, and since her curiosity wouldn't allow her leave it alone, she decided to read it and find out what was going on for herself. Inside the bathroom, Suge pulled the letter from under her shirt and pulled it out of the envelope to read. However the letter was written to Chrome in Bright’s handwriting...with Treasure's name signed on it. It read:

If you need for me to respond so that you can leave me the fuck alone, I will! I read your letter, and yeah, I already know what happened. Bright told me everything, so please don't think I don't know! And even if you didn't rape her, so what! You were wrong for beating her the way you did over a shower, and you deserve all the time you got for messing with her in the first place!

“This is wild! What the hell is going on? And wh at is Bright hiding?” Suge said to herself. After putting the letter back inside the envelope, she wrapped it inside of her T-shirt to ensure it wouldn't get wet, then she climbed inside the tub to shower. Once she was all cleaned up and dried off, she dressed comfortably in a pair of pajamas, then tucked the letter back under Bright’s bed where she found it. Then she went into the living room to watch movies and get faded, life was tough.

right woke up early to catch her mother before she left for work. “Ma, can Suge stay a few more days?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“If it's okay with her mother, I guess it's okay with me, Queen Bee. Speaking of, I haven't met Suge's mother yet, and when I get back home tonight, I'd like to at least speak to her.” Rosette said, finishing up her morning coffee and cigarette before going to work.

“Okay, but I think she'll still be at work at that tim e. I told you, that lady is a serious workaholic like you, Ma.”

“Poor woman, if she works as hard as me,” Rosette said, dumping the last of her cigarette out in an ashtray. “Cause I know I need me a break,” she sighed.

“You need to find you a rich ma n like my daddy to take care of you,” Bright replied.
“That type of business don't last forever. I need some life time assurance; hell I got mouths to feed. I gotta go, Queen Bee,” her mother said, grabbing her work bag to head out of the door. “Oh, and before I forget, quit smoking weed in my house, Bright! She gave her daughter a look of authority. “I don't care if you are in the bathroom with it, you ain't grown and the next thing you know they'll all be tryna smoke that shit...and It’s already bad enough that you doing it!”
“Maaa! I don't be smoking no weed up in here, Cordell is lying!” Bright said.
“How did you know Cordell told me anything?” Rosette said looking at Bright with her hand on her hip. “And leave him alone too; he says you’re always getting on him.” Before Bright could speak again, Rosette opened the apartment door to leave then said, “I don't wanna hear it, Bright, just do what I say please.” Then she closed the door behind her.
Bright huffed, “I got his little punk ass,” she said to herself. Then she went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. After breakfast, Bright told her siblings to go outside to play, and not to get in or start any trouble, then she called Larry over to break him off.
“Bright, I’ma run over to K-mart to grab a few things, you wanna go with us?” Suge asked, stepping into the living room.
“Who, you and Treasure?” Bright asked.
“Yeah, she's on her way right now.” Suge said.
“Naw, y'all go ahead without me, Larry's on his way over,” Bright replied. “And oh yeah, Blake been asking about you too!” Bright smiled.
Suge laughed. “Blake with his cute self, tell him to call me later on,” Suge said as she grabbed a glass out of the dish rack, then poured herself a glass of orange juice.
“You miss ya mama? Bright asked Suge, seeing the sad look on her face.
“Heck naw! That hoe could choke on something and die, I wouldn't give a fuck! I just been down because of this whole situation, but it's nothing a good ole blunt can’t fix though.” Suge laughed. “You wanna smoke one with us before we leave?” Suge asked, pulling a Swisher Sweet out of her designer bag.
“And you know this!” Bright laughed. Once Treasure got there, they all kicked back in the living room listening to music, puffing, passing the weed and talking, when a knock on the door interrupted them.
Treasure, sitting on the couch by the bay window, whispered, “Bitch the, Po-Po at the door!”
Bright instantly looked at Suge and told her to go hide in her mother's bedroom closet, then she dumped the remains of the blunt down the kitchen sink, sprayed the living room with Febreeze air freshener to kill the smell of the Kush, turned the music down, and then answered the door with a cup of orange juice in her hand.
“Can I help you?” Bright asked.
“Yes we're looking for a Samantha McGraw, is she here?” the officer asked.
“Samantha McGraw?” Bright said dumbfounded. “Oh, you talking about, Suge,” she said, nodding her head.
“Yes; she ran away from home a couple weeks ago, and we have reports that she has a friend that lives here by the name of Bright Sheldon and that she has been in the area, and has possibly been staying here.”
“Wait, Suge ran away?” Bright asked, playing dumb.
“Yes she has, Miss...what’s your name?” he asked her.
“I'm Bright Sheldon, and Suge is my friend, but I didn't know that she ran away from home. She stopped over here last night on her way home. I mean...at least that’s what she told me,” Bright said, looking concerned.
“Are your parents or any other adults in the residence at this time?” the officer asked.
“No, my mother just went to work, but I can assure you that Samantha isn't here.” Bright said.
“How old are you, Miss Sheldon?” he asked
“I'm sixteen, I will be seventeen next week,” Bright answered.
“Do you mind if I take a look around the apartment, Miss
Sheldon?” he asked, not completely believing Bright's story.
“Of course you can, Officer Grub,” Bright said, reading his last name off of his badge. “If you have a search warrant to do so,” she said politely.
Officer Grub gave Bright a nasty look. “If I find out that your friend has been staying here, in this apartment, I'm sending your mother to jail and whatever kids that lives in this house to Social Services. I'll be in the area, watching,” he said, making his way down the stairs.
“Okay, not a problem, and if I see her before you do, I'll let her know that you’re looking for her. Have a good day, officer,” Bright yelled after him, then closed the door.
The second Bright closed the door she said, “Bitch, this shit is getting serious! Suge gone have to call Child Services today! My mama will kill me if she finds out she been harboring a runaway,” she panicked.
“She can go to jail too, Bee,” Treasure said.
Bright called out for Suge to come in the living room as she paced the living room floor thinking of what she could do to make the situation better.
“Here comes Larry, Bee,” Treasure announced, looking out of the window to see if there was any police activity going on outside.
“Okay, let him in, I’ma have Suge call the people in my room.”
“Okay,” Treasure replied, removing herself from the couch to open the door.
Inside the room, Suge called Social Services and explained her whole situation, about how she had ran away from home because her mother was abusing her and had been doing so for over six years. Suge told the lady that she didn't want to go home and that she even wanted to divorce her mother. Suge cried so hard when she asked the lady for help that both Treasure and Bright begin to tear up as they comforted their friend. Finalizing the conversation, it was agreed that Suge would meet the social worker at her office in one hour.
“I'll be there,” Suge said, wiping her eyes.
Moments later, Treasure walked outside to survey the area. Seeing that the coast was clear she gave Larry and Bright the green light to take Suge to the Social Services office. In the backseat of Larry's Mustang, Suge laid across the seat to avoid being spotted.
“You okay back there, Suge?” Larry asked, hearing her sniffle.
“I’ma be better once this shit is all over. Thanks so much for everything too, you guys,” Suge said, wiping her eyes.
“You already know it, Young, you my girl for life, through the good, the bad, and even when I don't act like it, you hear me?” Bright said, then kissed Suge on the forehead.
Suge held Bright tight. “You and Treasure have been my true family, and I’ma never forget it.”
Once they pulled up in the parking lot, Bright and Larry walked Suge inside the building and waited with her until Maria Hernandez took her to the back.
“I love you, Suge, and I don't care where you go, you better keep in touch, okay!”
“Always,” Suge said, as she waved goodbye to Larry and Bright.
Before going back to the apartment, Bright asked Larry to stop her by the post office to mail off a letter to her cousin, when in fact it was really the letter she had written to Chrome.

Back at the apartment, Larry and Bright played around in her bed kissing and dry humping. “I love you, Bright,” Larry said in between pecks on the lips.

“I love you too, baby, very much,” Bright said, sitting on top of Larry, looking deep into his eyes.
Larry pulled through her long golden hair, as they dazed into each other’s eyes. Yearning to be as one with her, Larry sat up and kissed her passionately. “Fuck, I can’t wait to marry you so I can go to sleep with you every night and wake up and see your beautiful face every morning for the rest of my life.”
“You mean that, Larry?” Bright asked, planting kisses over his face.
“Every word of it, baby, I'm fucking crazy in love with you, girl,” he said, squeezing her breast through her shirt.
“Let’s do it, baby,” Bright said, lifting her shirt to take it off. She liked her nipples played with.
“Not in yo mama house, babygirl, she trust me too much for that,” Larry said, pulling her shirt back down.
“She won’t know, Larry, she still at work,” Bright moaned.
“But your brothers and Ryonna can come up in here at any given moment, boo boo. And I got too much respect for them to get caught up in here like that,” Larry said, continuing to squeeze her breast and fondle her nipples.
“Well, stop teasing me then,” Bright said removing his hands from her breasts, then she climbed off of him.
“Don't be mad, baby, you can have this dick all night, tomorrow night. You still going camping with us, right?”
“I'ma ask my mama tonight, so let me get in there and cook and clean before she gets home, I'll have a better chance of going that way,” Bright said, opening her bedroom door.
Larry stood up and revealed his hard member. “He depending on you, baby,” Larry teased.
“You better stop it, Larry,” Bright said, hungrily licking her lips. “You know I like kissing it,” she said.
“I thought you loved it,” he said, biting down on his bottom lip, grabbing himself.
“Boy, you playing,” Bright said as she walked out of her room.
Larry laughed, “I love you too, boo boo.”
Once her mother got home and opened a can of beer, Bright and Larry asked if she could go on the camping trip with Larry and his friends. After begging and promising to behave she told them yes. Bright was extra excited. The next day, she hit Terrence up for money and went and bought her and Larry all sorts of neat camping gadgets. She even bought him some new games for the PlayStation 2 she had bought him awhile back.
“Bright, yo ass is getting fat, you sure you ain't pregnant?” Treasure asked her after she paid for her items.
“Nope! I took a pregnancy test last week, still no baby for me. This weight is all that FF time we be getting in,” Bright said, grabbing her bags.
Treasure rolled her eyes in the back of her head, “You always coming up with something, Bee, now what is FF supposed to mean?” Treasure giggled, grabbing her items.
“Fucking and Feeding time, quit playing!” Bright burst out laughing.
“I like it,” Treasure said. “I guess I can say my Suwooo gangsta from the CPT, Lil Boo, puts the FF time in too huh?” Treasure said, smiling and switching.
“He putting in that kind of work already?” Bright asked.
“Yep, all the time too,” Treasure said popping her collar. ”Oh and he's having an all-white end of the summer pool party at his house next week. You’re invited!” Treasure said.
“It's a date, and long overdue. I need to know this fool that got my girl nose wide the fuck open,” Bright teased.
“Where the cab at though?” Bright said out loud. “I called for one before we got in the dang line,” she pouted.
“Here it come, cry baby,” Treasure said, pointing at the approaching cab.
“Good, 'cause I'm tired and my funds are low, gotta call my money man, Ice to set me right,” Bright laughed.
“What’s up with his wife, though?” Treasure asked with concern once they were inside the cab.
“He said she still fighting, that nigga taking it hard as fuck too,” Bright said.
“Can you imagine, you being her, and him being Larry? I bet it’s hard,” Treasure said, nodding her head. “I can’t even imagine that,” she said.
“Girl, you and me both! Tameka is a soldier for real,” Bright announced.
“Yeah she is,” Treasure said sympathetically.
When the cab pulled up on Bright's street, she paid the driver, then Treasure went inside to help Bright pack her bags for the camping trip.